SINGAPORE

How clean and pretty is Singapore ? Has to be the cleanest, most well kept city that Emma and I have ever visited. given the fact that you get fined S$1000 for spitting and that chewing gum is illegal it's hardly suprising.

Maybe this is why we had to spend 4 hours walking all over town to find a room under 50 GBP .... nighmare when it's 90 degrees and humid. Next time we'll book ahead (never trust the guidebook when it says that there are always lots of rooms available.

So, first day spent looking for accomodation and visiting Little India (urgggghhh) and Chinatown where we had a really interesting Korean Meal which was, well, interesting. Not unpleasant but not something we would rush back for. Most of the food we could'nt recognise but we eventually did work out that one of the dishes was a type of whitebait with tiny, tiny fish no longer than 0.75 mm ... quite tasty though.

We also managed to get ourselves into a better hotel the next day by sending Emma in to beg ......... moved in the next day to a much nicer hotel and at 44GBP 3 GBP cheaper! Yay! It also has a fantastic paddling pool and chill out area on the roof with excellent views of the city.

Went to explore and stumbled upon the Raffles .... looks very nice and distinctly colonial but we were a bit sweaty so didn't venture in. Going to head out there for a Singapore sling before we leave though.

The next day we ventured out we made the effort to go to the Changi Chapel / Museum .... I cannot emphasise enough how important I think it is for every visitor to Singapore to visit here. It is the most moving museum that we have ever visited ... each section cannot fail to draw on ones emotions and both Emma and I felt phsically drained after 3 hours in what is essentially a very small museum. As Emma put it ... " I feel as if I've gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson". It is simultaneously inspiring, humbling, depressing and uplifting ... a true rollercoater of emotions which, being British, we felt obliged (if unsuccessfully) to control. We can only hope that future generations will not forget the debt we all owe.